Carlos Sainz
and
Max Verstappen
came hand in hand to
Formula 1
. They were boys and had in common being the children of well-known pilots. But that's not why they became friends; On the contrary, Red Bull's demanding young driver program confronted them and in that 2015 Toro Rosso
the law of the strongest
prevailed
. After 23 races, the Dutchman was promoted to the team in which he would later become three-time world champion, while Carlos Sainz went through Renault, McLaren and Ferrari until he became an
unemployed driver
.
On February 1,
the 29-year-old from Madrid was unexpectedly left without a job until 2025
. That day, it was confirmed that Lewis Hamilton would be Charles Leclerc's teammate next season. The shock did not impact Sainz sportingly; A month later he put the Prancing Horse on the podium in Bahrain and last Sunday he gave him the victory in Melbourne, for the third round of the Formula 1 championship and recovered from an appendicitis operation. “Life is sometimes really nice, really beautiful,” he said after toasting with champagne and lifting the Australian GP trophy, although he took away something else:
the praise and the interest? from Red Bull
, the team that trained him as a driver and that took him to F1 in its subsidiary team but then closed its doors on him.
It was in 2018, when Daniel Ricciardo decided to go to Renault and
rumors pointed to Verstappen vetoing Sainz
. Because? Although Helmut Marko, historical advisor to the Austrian team, said that those rumors were “bullshit” because “Red Bull is the only one that decides on its pair of drivers,” some time later he also acknowledged that “
the atmosphere that existed between the two “When they were at Toro Rosso it was somewhat toxic
. ”
He also did not consider having his parents in the box: “That was not a healthy relationship in Toro Rosso: on the one hand, there was the intelligent politician Carlos Sainz Senior; on the other, the emotional Jos Verstappen."
The international press had material to rely on to publish it. After his promotion to Red Bull in May 2016, Max praised the Australian Ricciardo during an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and revealed that
his relationship with Sainz “was not that good
. ”
Although he acknowledged that "the situation was different" because at Toro Rosso they both knew that "there was only one free seat at Red Bull, because Daniel always performed well."
"Survive? I think I did something more than survive Verstappen as a teammate in 2015, it was very important in my career. Something more than survive the Red Bull program," the Spaniard said, for his part, in October 2019. And he blamed to Red Bull: "
They put us in a cage to fight
. Toro Rosso is a development team to evaluate drivers to see if they are ready to join Red Bull. So you have to constantly prove yourself. So the atmosphere was very competitive, but we still get along well.”
Egos and battles to get to Red Bull
The day of debut. Verstappen at Toro Rosso in Australia. AP Photo/Rob Griffith
Like two companions on a graduate trip, that March 15, 2015, they left The Langham hotel heading to the Melbourne circuit. The Spaniard drove a white Toyota, while
the Dutchman got into the back seat of the car driven by his protectionist father Jos
. Overshadowed by a Sebastian Vettel who dressed in red for the first time and the participation of McLaren with Honda engines, a minor Verstappen - youngest driver to debut in F1 - and a Sainz who they said ran only because of his surname started his adventure in F1. The Spaniard added two points with his ninth place; The Dutchman ran 32 laps and abandoned.
The year ended with Max leading his teammate (49 points against 18) and above all with several
clashes that revealed the tense relationship between the drivers
. The most obvious occurred on September 20, at the Singapore Grand Prix, where Verstappen disobeyed a team order and finished eighth, just ahead of Sainz.
“Max, change positions
,” Xavi Pujolar told him over the radio.
“No
,” Verstappen replied bluntly.
“Max, just do it
,” the engineer reiterated.
There were no answers; There were also no movements on the track and the seventh place of Sergio Pérez (Force India) was not in danger because Sainz, with new tires, could not even surpass Verstappen to go after the Mexican.
When the race ended, both spoke to the press. "
Max likes that bad boy role a bit and I knew it, but now he has shown it
. In any case my relationship with the team does not change: if they ask me for something I will do it, I am a team player," Carlos explained. , who at the Hungarian GP (on July 26) had given him his place so that Alonso would not overtake him. Max, jokingly, confessed: "
Dad told me that if he had let Carlos pass, he would have kicked me in the balls
."
In one of their last races together, in Australia 2016, the bad relationship was even more visible. Verstappen complained to his team on the radio for not obeying his wish to enter the pit lane, which caused him to fall behind Sainz: "The other cars leave and you don't let me pass Sainz,
this is fucking joke!
". After finishing ninth, just one place ahead of the Dutchman, the Spaniard asked the journalists: “
Have you complained a lot? Well, what are you going to do
? “Normally I should be a few kilometers ahead of him,” responded who two months later was promoted by Red Bull.
Precisely, when that happened, Sainz did not shrink back in an interview with El Confidencial and stated: "
I think I'm better than Verstappen in everything.
How do I compare myself to him? He's a very good driver and I don't need to explain that to anyone. But, Honestly, I think I'm better at practically everything. In qualifying I'm very fast, also in the race... It's very difficult to explain, it's a feeling that one has and you're not going to get it out of my head."
From rudeness to return?
Carlos Sainz had to leave Red Bull after training as a driver but he continued in F1 and could return to the Austrian team. Reuters Photo / Andrew BoyersLivepic
For the 2019 World Championship, Christian Horner had two options to replace Daniel Ricciardo: bring up one of the Toro Rosso drivers or renew the contract of Carlos Sainz, who was on loan at Renault. The decision was to promote
Pierre Gasly
- who was later replaced by Alex Albon mid-season - so the Spaniard went to McLaren taking advantage of the gap left free by his compatriot Fernando Alonso.
Always competitive, Horner is now looking for the best partner for 2025. Almost since he disembarked, in 2021, Sergio Pérez has been designated to leave the team. Only last season, after an overwhelming 2023 for Red Bull with 21 victories in 22 races, Checo managed to be runner-up. That Grand Prix that the team missed was Singapore, where the winner was Sainz, which would have made it a precious jewel.
"
Carlos is the only driver to have beaten Red Bull in the last year, so he seems to be our nemesis
," observed the English team boss. "I think we want to form the best pairing we can in Red Bull Racing and sometimes you also have have to look outside. In Australia a very fast and unemployed driver has won the race. Based on a performance like that you couldn't rule out any possibility, so I think you just have to take the time (to decide. Checo has also had a great start of the season, so we are not in any desperate hurry," he added in Motorsport.
There are more options than Carlos, mainly from the members of the structure (Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and even Liam Lawson) but the fact that Horner has considered looking at the driver market fuels Sainz's dream of staying in a top team after leaving Ferrari. "
I'm going to maximize this stronger team that we have created together during this year to try to get more podiums and victories, and see where I go next
," said someone who has already participated in 188 grand prix and stood on the podium 20 times, three of them. in the first place.